The reassurance helped Alec push aside the last, lingering doubts Alec had. He knew they were foolish. Whatever had caused Adam to need space wasn't his fault. He'd done everything Adam asked and stopped as soon as he seemed uncomfortable. If he had done something, Adam would have told him in detail what mistakes Alec had made, but having Adam say that he still wanted to try was important. It eased the knot that had been trying to form in his chest that was too similar to the one that had always crushed him whenever Jace had said he loved Alec like a brother.

Waiting for Adam to compose himself, he brushed his thumb along the edge of Adam's hand. Ignoring the brief twinge of disappointment over the announcement that they were going to class, Alec reminded himself that he'd told Adam that they should go. He shouldn't wish that they could have an afternoon free of responsibilities.

And he should not be distracted by Adam's accent. It was different than what he was used to, but he liked the sound of it. Adam probably wouldn't like that since it seemed to be more pronounced when he was upset. "Yeah, we should."

Blinking at the change in light, he was almost caught off guard when Adam kissed him. Making a surprised sound, he grinned when Adam pulled away. "No more 'no kissing in public' rule?"